By JILL LAWLESS, Related Press
LONDON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged the US to broaden sanctions on Russian oil from two firms to the entire sector, and appealed for long-range missiles to hit again at Russia.
Zelenskyy was in London for talks with two dozen European leaders who’ve pledged navy assist to protect his nation from future Russian aggression if a ceasefire stops the greater than three-year battle.
The assembly hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer aimed to step up strain on Russian President Vladimir Putin, including momentum to current measures which have included a brand new spherical of sanctions from the US and European nations on Russia’s very important oil and fuel export earnings.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Avenue in London, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 for bilateral talks and a later assembly of the so-called “coalition of the willing”.(AP Picture/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
The talks additionally addressed methods of serving to shield Ukraine’s energy grid from Russia’s virtually day by day drone and missiles assaults as winter approaches, enhancing Ukrainian air defenses, and supplying Kyiv with longer-range missiles that may strike deep inside Russia. Zelenskyy has urged the U.S. to ship Tomahawk missiles, an concept U.S. President Donald Trump has flirted with.
The Ukrainian chief mentioned Trump’s determination this week to impose oil sanctions was “a big step,” and mentioned “we have to apply pressure not only to Rosneft and Lukoil, but to all Russian oil companies.”
Trump additionally has placed on maintain a plan for a swift assembly with Putin in Budapest, as a result of he didn’t need it to be a “waste of time.”
Putin has to date resisted efforts to push him into negotiating a peace settlement with Zelenskyy and has argued that the motives for Russia’s all-out invasion of its smaller neighbor are reliable. Russia has additionally been adept at discovering loopholes in Western sanctions.
A prime Russian official mentioned Friday he has arrived in the US for talks with U.S. officers. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for funding and financial cooperation, introduced his go to in a publish on X. He mentioned it was “planned a while ago” on an invite “from the U.S. side.”
Dmitriev has been a key interlocutor in discussions between the Trump administration and the Kremlin on quite a few points, together with the Ukraine battle and the discharge of American detainees in Russia.
Putin’s unbudging stance has exasperated Western leaders.
NATO Secretary-Common Mark Rutte mentioned Putin’s targets stay unchanged however he “is running out of money, troops and ideas.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof additionally attended Friday’s assembly of the “Coalition of the Willing” in individual. About 20 different leaders joined by video hyperlink.
Constructing a ‘reassurance force’
Ukraine’s Western allies must resolve some huge questions concerning the future half they’ll play as Europe’s greatest battle since World Struggle II heads towards its fourth anniversary.
The uncertainties embrace how they’ll assist fund war-devastated Ukraine, what postwar safety ensures they may be capable to present, and what Washington’s commitments to future safety preparations could be.
Particulars of the potential future “reassurance force” are scant, and the London assembly seeks to additional develop the thought — although any peace settlement seems in the intervening time to be solely a distant risk.
The drive is prone to include air and naval assist slightly than Western troops deployed in Ukraine, in line with officers. U.Okay. Protection Secretary John Healey says it will be “a force to help secure the skies, secure the seas, a force to help train Ukrainian forces to defend their nation.”
The battle has proven no signal of subsiding, as a front-line battle of attrition kills hundreds of troopers on each side whereas drone and missile barrages trigger harm in rear areas.
Russia says it has captured Ukrainian villages
The Russian Protection Ministry claimed Friday that over the previous week its forces have captured 10 Ukrainian villages. The small conquests are a part of Russia’s gradual however regular slog to envelop the remaining Ukrainian strongholds within the Donetsk area from each the north and the south and create footholds for urgent additional west into the Dnipropetrovsk area.
The Protection Ministry additionally mentioned its forces downed 111 Ukrainian drones over a number of areas in a single day, with particles inflicting harm to houses and infrastructure..
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that air defenses downed three drones heading to the town, which compelled flights to be suspended at two Moscow airports.
In the meantime, Ukrainian authorities mentioned Russian artillery struck a residential block within the southeastern metropolis of Kherson on Friday, killing two folks and injuring 22 others.
Russian planes additionally dropped at the very least 5 highly effective glide bombs on the northeastern metropolis of Kharkiv, injuring six folks and damaging houses, in line with Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
And for the primary time, Russia fired glide bombs on Ukraine’s southern Odesa area Friday, in line with Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Army Administration, calling it “a new, serious threat” within the space. Glide bombs are considerably cheaper than missiles and carry a heavier payload.
Initially Printed: October 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM EDT
